When obsessive homebrewer Dunn opened Great Divide in a then-barren section of downtown Denver in 1994, he was part of an unproven industry. Early double-digit sales growth and award-winning beers were not enough to earn him a bank loan, he said.

Now, three legacy Colorado craft breweries with roots in the uncertain 1990s are in the midst of major expansions as demand for fuller-flavored beer and competition in the market intensifies.

“Colorado has become such a mecca for craft beer that we are seeing breweries no longer just investing to open their doors or grow their brand, but they are looking to invest in the future,” said Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Boulder-based Brewers Association, a trade group.

Dunn said Great Divide began scouting a second location because it ran out of room at 22nd and Arapahoe streets, where the brewery occupies a former dairy plant.

With the help of a $1 million city economic development loan, the brewery bought land on Brighton Boulevard between 33rd and 35th streets that was home to an auto salvage yard and other businesses.

City records show the four adjacent parcels cost $9.1 million. The city also approved a zoning change.

Dunn said the project will be built in phases starting with construction of a 70,000-square-foot warehouse that will include a new canning line, scheduled to be ready next spring. That was the top priority because the brewery has been leasing warehouse space.

The new production brewery — with initial annual capacity between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels of beer — will not be built until 2016 at the earliest, Dunn said. Great Divide brewed 37,100 barrels last year. A barrel is equal to 31.5 gallons of beer.

A tasting room and beer garden — overlooking a planned city park, the South Platte River and the mountains beyond — are two or three years away, Dunn said.

“That is the part that is kind of hard to communicate with people,” he said. “Yes, we are starting. We are building a warehouse right away. But all the good stuff that people want to come to see won’t be there for a couple of years.”

The existing brewery and tap room downtown will remain open, he said.

Two other expansions of legacy Colorado breweries also seek to not just produce beer but attract thirsty locals and tourists:

“These breweries made it through some really tough times in craft brewing,” said Steve Kurowski of the Colorado Brewers Guild, which promotes and lobbies for the industry. “Every one of these breweries going through an expansion right now probably had a day they didn’t know they were going to be open the next day.”

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